Ornamental hard surface covering



Oct.'3, 1933. H. s. HUMPHREYs 1,929,277

ORNAMENTALHARD SURFACE COVERING Filed June 50, 1931 l ii n. :killin `another. Because of this lirnitation thevshadings I Patented Oct. Y3, 1933i.; Y

' UNITED, STATES l 1,929,277 f ,l ORNAMENTAL 4innato' SURFACE oovE'lNG HarrylfS. Humphreys, Lancaster, Pa., assigner A,

- to Armstrong Cork'Cornpany,Lancaster, Pa., a

' corporation of Pennsylvania f 1 This invention `relates to an improvedornamentalV hard .sur-face covering, and 'is herein par-l ticularly described .as-embodied vin alinoleum of the molded inlaid'type. n e 1 v Itis desirable frorn a designstandpoint to-iorm pattern elements in moldedinlaid hnoleum which areshaded in character. For example, in a. tile pattern it is desirable to represent Variations Vin vtone somewhat. analogous to the variations Y nor-I mally occurringin rburned( ceramic tile.4 In var-` ons other types of'patterns it is equally desirable in obtaining shaded eifeots. Unfortunately it has Vnot been heretofore possible Vto obtain a desirable shading in linoleuxn of thisfcharacter. In the manufacture of linoleu'in `by the molded inlaid prooessthe linoleum mixin granular form issup-V plied through stencils to `a backing and the patternr thus made is consolidated underA pressure.

yEachcolor,suppiied through the stencils is4 neces'- sarily uniform in character.V vIt is possible lto make:

'scmealled fgranite linoleurnhy mixing particles of two or more colors together, ybut theleiect obtained is one which isvuniform over the entirey surface, considered .as a Whole,fthere being no shading Vfrom one partV of fa design element-to heretofore attempted Yhat-e `been relatively harsh in character and the'line odemarcation between adjacent portions intendedV to shade ofifrom one another had-been Weil marked. A. By reasonioi the interlocking of. granules Valong the line 'of vjuncturehsuch line isrwavy or palsied incharacter, and of itself detracts from the appearance o'fgthe Y'girxiclsf 4 y f Y l 1 I have found that highly `desirable eects may ce obtained by, formingk aY decorative element out of contiguous patches Yeach executed lin atleast Vtwo-colors, there beingacolor in one patch substantially the same as a colorjin thecontiguous patch. The-several colorsin any given patch are made up separately` and the granules of color are Q mixed-together so as to forth a multi-colorpatch. Generally speaking there will he one color. commonto the'several-patches making upgthe decorativefelernent. Careshouldbe taken, asherein- 'aftervdescrihed, inA selecting the :colors to Abe used, `hutrthere Ya .proper selection is madeand the several ncolors are Vpresent in. the proper rarnount,v

jhighly desirable. effects arefohtained.-v Oneclfose sexanlinationeach patch appears mottled. ffThe contiguousV patchesl are. prefer'ably joinedfonra ,ular direction, coupled' With the -Wavyfchara'cter ot thefline occasioned 'by the interlocking of ad- L .55.:ja9ent Vgmnulesf @W5-?? Sua? effe@ @ibn-spart Y notice :so .apparent` vv{leer}rative element- Itu willloe under 'of the'decorative elernentrnerging softly and irri? perceptibly into another 'portionthereop Itis fore availablelto the designer.Y As stated, care should be employed thus possiblelto obtain shadedeffects not heretotheselectoY employcolors Which, Whengraded according tothe Munsell system, do 'notsvaryf irompneanl.

Yother loy more .thancertain vdefinite ain'oin'ltsv as hereinafter setforthl -f v The ratio of area occupied bythe differentcolf ors in a: patch i is, asy stated, important if the desired eiect isV to bel-obtained; The two colors present Vinlany patch should be combined in' such Vratio that-,proper contrast'isobtained. *.If there is too little of one color there Will be no apparent contrastand no marked Shading-in the decorative element; If, onthe contrary, the color Whichis y Y `cominonto the several. patches'is not present in a sufficient arnountthere'willf be' too .much contragt between the `otinerpoiors anduieeffet win y againbe lost.

lIn the,accompanying..drawingv illustratingv a present'preferred embodiment. of the as Vapplied toa Ytile pattern. Figure 1 is a, topplan yView of a improvedmaterial and Figure 2fisa color. chart showingfthelcolors employed. l

The design-of igure isa'representation of a liney 'of' demarcation between' contiguous-patches invention 1 I 3:80 pefof my l* is rathersharplyshotvn for-'purposes ofillus'tration, `b11t` itV will loe understoodfthat inthemav fterial Afitseli? suchsharpness oil definition is lnot yQ5* desired, and. 1f colors are', progeny" empiyedwiu 5 e Y The vline ofA uncturebetween patches isQfas wavy inc haracter; The Waviness is occasionedby the interlocking ofthe particlesrnaking upthe stated, irregularlydirected,-fahd,.in"additiomis v 1 rnix. Eachlpatch isfrnad'e frorn' a mixture of e. c Aline of juncture andreadesirableshadmgof tocd colorswhich gives'a5mottledeffectif Qngclosev Y v examination Iof thepattern. individual surface l granules maybe vdetected;lout by .virtuei ,c'fftliev .Yfactthat thereis atleast one colorcommen-toV '.,contiguous' patches in any" given. design element 'is obtained a lsoftvlolendiri'g of coloratlthe the'v @haiti-110 1 60 tion of the colors of the several patches.- vIprfefer where I refer toa common color in contiguous l patches I mean to include those cases Where nthere is a color in each patchjand in suflicient amount that Vthe effectY is obtained even though v to;

there may be a slight difference observable in the colors if viewed independently. r

I may, -v4as hereinafter more 'fully described, employtwo common "colors as this-is -found to aid in obtaining the desired eiect. I may, for example, employ twocolors of the same hue but of slightly different value, adding a proper amountof another color to this mixture for one patchand a proper amount of'a "fourth colo'r tothe mixture of a contiguous patch.

' The effect on the eye ofthefsmall dots of color, particularly when viewed from the' height of an ordinary observer, is somewhat analogous to that obtained by viewing a half-tone. AThe effect on the eye is that of substantial continuity of color, although the color itself is present in discrete 4103s, which (1015s by reason of my invention'are 'so fdisposed that the eiiect` of' shading is obtained, although uniform lmixes for the several patches are employed. It is thereby possible to secure "with 'certainty and with tliep'ossibility of accurate duplication 'desirables'haded effects.,v i

"I have made reference to the :Munsell system ofbolor. andjndf'th'at itisvaluable in determiningthe mixestobe employed. According tothe Muriselll system (Munsell yBook of Color, The` vl/'Itinsell 'Color Company, Baltimore, Maryland,k V"1929) all Vcolors are lconsidered `from the standpoint ofhu'e, valueand chroma. Thej've prinfci'pal hue'sgred, yellow, green, blueandfpurple, 'are'designated'by'the initiallletters R, Y, G, Band P. `iThe live Ain'terrr'iedia'te hues, yellow-red; green- Yyellovv, blue-green, purpleeblue and red-purple,

"areeorrespondingly,designated "GY, PB

. "and RP. The second intermediate huesare likeuit wise designated by* the initial letters. For ex-Y ample'the'hue intermediate red and yellow-red is designated RYR.

The "valueor 'v'ariable'light strength in'a color i isdesignated by number. Purer black isnuinbered 0/ and pure whitefis numbered 10/ In point of 'ffactyvery few blacks'go below 1/ and the usual kWhitefis rarely above 9/. 4T heval'ue of any color anindicationfof how light or dark it is, and the value is determined by a comparisonwith the "different grays "of the value Yscale betwee'nfO and "Ihefc'hromaof anycolor 'is "a i'r'iea'sure' of its strength or intensity. There 'maybe two colors 1tlie"isa'ir1"e hueand value, yet one of :them will `be strong andthe other weak and grayislr. The

fchromafis ajineasure of changein a huebetween j neiitraigray and 'the 'maximumchioma of such hue. Chroma `is v'f'iesignatec'i by a numeral placed v ,"b'eloW 'a linegforfexample, /5. Thus, any'cclor k' yb'eicoiripletely :andscieritically dened by ldesigiiatiing "its'fnue, value and' chroma'. In Figf A.ure .2,'Ishave shown the several colors employed vinthe' design, which colors have been given their de'signati'ons 'according toithe Munsell system. )The vint'erliners "are," as `stated,"mottl'ed,- and the 'are'isho'wn at A'and 'Bin Figure 2.

tiiefz lis alight red.; A ,mix 'off-reddish shades, :indic'atedatF and Gin Figure 2, is made "'iipfequal amounts of "the twojcolors-being used. 'The color Fis designatedjas RYRl/fi andV the.' j cclcr is designated as ,RYRB/TI;Y rIn 'orderlto tffelightfpafchZa'there is added a'suitable amount of a` color 5E, `Jdesignated vas RYR5.5/4. The -clarl-rer patch 2b is made by adding to the is added. K It-Will be seen from -a comparison of the values over /4 in any patch.

,'color G to form the lighter patch 4a and some of a color N (black) tov form the darker patch 4b.

The purplish tiles 5 are made from the colors K', L, M and N. The colors K, L and M have 'theziollowingidesignation: P4.5/3, RPS/2, P1.5/2.

v'I-he parent `mix is made by compounding the colors L -and lM to a part of which the color K is added so as to produce the light patch 5a, and to another part of whichv the color N is added t0- produce the Vdark patch 5b.

The brownish tiles `6 are made using as a 'parent mix `a combination of colors C and D, Awhose designa-tions are YRY45/3 and'fYRYS/. `To make the light patch Saa desired amountof the color E is added to this mixture, andftomakev the` darker patch 6b a 'desired amount 'of 'thecclor ofl the colors A"employed Vthat in any givenpat'ch Athe difference in vvalue'of colors as measured-on theMunsell scale is in no case more'tha'nf', and in most cases is not more than 2/. Considering Vthe several design elements in -the'ir'ent'iretyfit willbe seenthat Athedilerence in value 'between the lightest and the darkest colors present is *not more than 3.5/ in any case. I prefer't'o'hold the i difference to less than about 3`/.l `'Ihe 'chromel of thediiferent colors may vary `more widely,

but should vbe taken into consideration, Aespecially in the lighter colors. I prefer that in thelighter elements the dierencein chroma shall A'not/be rAs-willfbe seen from the drawing, the 's`everal K lcolorsAarerprese'nt in the patches in the'form 4of `'discrete dots. the lineof juncture between patches there is an interlockingy of 'par- 'ticle's, and the juncture line is therefore wavy' or shaky in character. Since a Ilarge amount o'f color inthe twopatches is the same, theA iriterloc'xking Vof the Yparticles ofv suchcolor destroys any visual evidence of the juncture line at such point. Some of theda'rk'particles which make one patch darker ltoning off.

yThe visual effect will necessarily depend to some lextent upon the size of the particles employed.

`The particles must be small enough vso yth'atth'ey Vand some Y"of the light particles which make'the contiguous Ypatch, lighter willV alsolie adjacent the 'juncture'line By. reasonof the waviness of' Vthe line, particularly Where it is `-irregularly "di- 'rected, thereis no apparent sharp lineof sepajrationjthe-eect being ofy asoft 4and gradual Y can intermingle freely at the line of juncturebetween contiguous patches in order that Ithediffler- 'ent colors -may vblend into` a harmonious unit. If'the granulesiare `too large the contrastbetween contiguous colors `vwill betoo sharp and thefde- Siredshading effectwill `be'lost. Qn lthis :foth'er `hand,jif the-particles are so small that the-eye cannot distinguishindividual particles, thegp'atchl 4will appearas a solidcolovr and the line Iof' 'junc- 'ture betweenA adjacent patcheswill be hard.` I

have-found thatY iffthe colors`.are `grounddit) lat least the fineness-usually employedl'fort'h making'of gra/nite linoleurn ysuitable effects wil'lbe i: io

ently coloredcontiguous mottled patches, each executed in at least two colors and the patches blending into each other, there being a color in one patch which is substantially the same as a color in another patch, one patch also containing a* color lighter than such color, and a contiguous patch also containing a color darker than such color, the several colors referred to being visually discernible. y A

111.' An ornamental hard surface covering comprisin'g'a decorative element made up of differV "color in the contiguous patch, such common color` o "extending over an area which is greater lthan theV feritly' colored contiguous mottled patches, each executed in at least two colors and the patches blending into each other, there being a color inV one patchwhich is substantially the same as a color in another patch, one patch also containing a color .lighter than such'color, and a con-i tlg'uous patch also containing a coloi` darker than such color, the diierence in value of the lightest vxand vthe darkest colors in two contiguou'spatches 'beingnot more than about/ on the Munsell,

scale, the several colors referred tobeing visually discernible. Y 12; An ornamental hard surface Vcovering conrprising a decorative element made up of differ- Vehtly'colored contiguous ymottled patches each executed in at least twocolorsand the patches blending into each other, there being alcolor in Vone ptehwhich is substantially the same as a color in the contiguous patch, such common color extending over an area which' is greater thanY the area 'of the other colors, the several. colors referred Vto being visually discernible.

13; An ornamental hard surface covering `coinprising a decorative element made up of differently. colored contiguous mottled patches each vexecuted in at least two colors and the patches blending into leach other, there being a color in one patch which is' substantially vthe 'same as 'a -color in the contiguous patch, such common color` extending over an area which'is "greater than the area A of the other colors in aratio ofv'moie than 3 to l, the several colors referred to being visually discernible. 14. ornamental hard surface covering comprising 'a decorative element made .up AOfdinerently colored contiguous mottled patchesl each citeculled Ain at least two colors and the patches blending into eachother, there being a color in one patch which i's substantially the same as a to being visually discern-V area o! the other colors in a Yratio of lesstlnn 12to11,.the several colors referred t'obeingy visual'- i lydiscennble. f Y i f 15. An ornamental hard surface'covering com; prlsinga decorativeielement made` up of `difierently 'colored contiguous f mottled patches ,1 each executed in at least two colorsand the patches blending into each other, there being acolor in one patch Vwhich is substantially the same are color inthe contiguous patch, such commoncolor extendingH over an' area which is `greater than. thelareacf the other colors innaratiovbetween 4 to'l and .9.to 1, the several colors referredto being visually discernible.V A.

16. An ornamental hardsurface covering com? prising a. decorative'element made up-of diierv ently colored contiguous mottled patches andthe patches bending intoveach othenthere being two colors in one patch which are substantiallythe same -as-colors ina contiguousV patch, 1 `VAcontainingin-addition .to these common colors being visually discernibley .l

a different i colon; the several colors referred te 17; An ornamental hardsurface covering comprising -a decorative elementmade, up of. diiferently colored contiguous mottled patchesand the patches blending into'each1other, therebeing two colors in one patch which 'are'substantially same as colors in a contiguous patch, one patch containing in additiontol these common colors a different color, andthe other patch containing in 'addition to these common colorsstill another color, thev several colors referred to being visually discernibler. 1 Y f f 18.- An ornamental `hard surface covering com'- prising a decorative element made Vup of diierf- `ently'colored contiguous mottled patches and the patches blending into each other, eachjpatch-con- 'taining colors substantially the .same asin-.the

other patchzand an added color difereni'.- from the common colorand from the color. addedV to the other. patch, the granules of the common .color andof the added ,colors beingof. such size as to cause ya blending ofthe different colors at thezone ofwjuncture between the patches,.the severalcolors referred .to. being each visually discernible. 'l A3 v l A f 19. ornamental hard lsurface covering 'of the .inlaid linoleurn type having a body constituted of united granulesI andcornprising-afdecorative element `made `up of differently colored contiguous .patches` each havingat leastY one .com-

-monwcolor and one patch having added to the common'- colorjacolor different therefrom, the granules: of the commoncolorland theadded color being visually discernible to theeyeand of -suchsize as *tov ,presenta shaded appearance, .the .patches blending into eachV other.

CERTIFICATE or coRRsciioN.

Patent No. 1,929,277. October 3, 1933.

HARRY S. HUIVHPHMEYSn It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification oi the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 50, for "0" read 0/; and line 5i, for "i0" remi 1W; page 4, line 93, claim i6, for "bending" read blending; and that he said Leters Paent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record oi the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 21st day of November, A. D. 1933.

F. M. Hopkins (Seal) Acting Commissioner oi Patents. 

